On Tuesday morning I had the pleasure of taking part in a memorable ceremony for the B5 Community Learning Center in Kennewick. Often the shovels are put in the hands of the elected officials and others who have had roles in getting a project to the construction stage; this time the ground was literally broken by the immigrant children who will be served at the new B5 center! Dear Neighbor, Greetings from here at the ranch! It’s been almost two months since the Legislature adjourned for the second time this year… following a one-day “special” session to update our state’s drug-possession law. I’ve been busy catching up on ranch chores that couldn’t be done during our 105-day regular session, and some extra projects because we’re hosting a family gathering next month – many of you know how that is. But I am your senator year-round, even when I am not at the state Capitol, which means attending meetings and community events, and continuing to listen to your concerns about government and the government policies that are affecting your life and family. I’m going to zero in on a couple of those in this newsletter. They unfortunately deepen the affordability crisis in our state, which has been a top concern for Senate Republicans for years. ‘Please do something to lower gas prices’A constituent named Larry made a simple request in an email earlier this month. “Please do something to lower gas prices. It is my understanding that Washington now has highest prices in the US. It is having an impact on me, and I can’t image the impact on those making minimum wages.” He’s correct: Until about three weeks ago, California had the nation’s highest gas prices. Then Washington moved ahead – just in time for the extra driving many families do during summer vacation from school, as Senate Republican Leader John Braun noted in this public statement. Another constituent, Michael, went more in-depth with his concern about gas prices. “The state legislature needs to address this problem of rising gas prices immediately. Call a special session… Washington does not need the status of the state with the highest gasoline prices superseding California and Hawaii, let them reclaim this dubious distinction. “THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW, NOT NEXT YEAR, NEXT LEGISLATIVE SESSION.” Then there was this email from Helen, another constituent. Like Michael, she connected Washington’s high gas prices to a state law that was passed in 2021 but didn’t take full effect until 2023. It’s officially called the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) but known generically as “cap-and-invest,” “cap-and-trade” or “cap-and-tax,” depending on who is talking (to me it clearly functions as a tax): “I am writing to urge you to act immediately to FIX Washington’s deeply flawed and enormously costly new cap-and-trade program that was launched earlier this year. “Independent sources, such as Washington Policy Center and Washington Research Council (WRC) estimate that based on the May 31st auction price, the compliance costs for this program are adding 44 cents per gallon to the cost to manufacture gasoline and 55 cents per gallon to the cost to manufacture diesel. “The Seattle Times reports that the Department of Ecology has collected almost $850 million in compliance costs so far this year. An independent analysis conducted by WRC also estimates the program could cost $1.5 billion by year-end. These costs are three times higher than originally estimated when the legislature voted cap-and-trade into law. “I urge you to work with your legislative colleagues to fix this flawed program to make it work as intended in meeting our climate goals without placing enormous cost burdens on Washington families, small businesses, family farmers and working people across our state.” The auction referred to in Helen’s message is how, under the cap-and-tax law, state government began selling carbon “allowances” this year. These “compliance costs” are passed on to us at the pump, which explains why Washington gas prices have continued upward all year while they’ve fallen in other states. The message from Michael also suggested legislators had failed to ask, back in 2021, whether the Climate Commitment Act would cause gas prices to rise. I can assure him that many of us didn’t ask whether the proposed law would affect gas prices – we predicted it would. I’ll also point out that this bill didn’t get a lot of attention outside the Capitol because that legislative session was held remotely, greatly limiting the public’s ability to be heard. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that controversial “reform” bills about law enforcement were slid through that session, as was the state’s capital-gains income tax. As I replied to constituent Larry, I am careful about sounding overly partisan, but when it comes to gas prices in our state and the subject of energy/fuel in general, there is no getting around how there is a great difference of opinion between Republicans and Democrats. In each of the past two legislative sessions, Senate Republicans have proposed lowering gas prices through a temporary suspension of Washington’s 49.4-cent state gas tax (Senate Bill 5897 in 2022, and this year, SB 5756, which I sponsored). Democrats have shown zero interest – meaning they would not even agree to hold a public hearing on either bill and listen to the valid concerns you and many others have. To Michael’s point, I would definitely support having a special legislative session to address gas prices. However, I doubt our Democratic colleagues feel the same way, as they and Governor Inslee are denying the Climate Commitment Act has anything to do with Washington having the highest gas prices in the U.S. The reality is, too many of the people who control our state government don’t seem to care if you are paying more for gas, and see higher gas prices as the way to force people into public transit and electric vehicles. But I will not give up, as this is too important to the people I serve. The state Department of Ecology is on point within the executive branch of state government for implementing the Climate Commitment Act; it’s also the agency failing to deliver on the CCA exemptions promised to the agricultural and maritime industries (and the fuel surcharge rebates now owed them due to that failure) Just this week I was among more than 40 lawmakers signing a letter to Ecology which offers a plan for bringing gas prices down. Click here to read it. The state Department of Ecology is on point within the executive branch of state government for implementing the Climate Commitment Act; it’s also the agency failing to deliver on the CCA exemptions promised to the agricultural and maritime industries (and the fuel surcharge rebates now owed them due to that failure) Just this week I was among more than 40 lawmakers signing a letter to Ecology which offers a plan for bringing gas prices down. Click here to read it. New payroll tax adds to affordability crisis in our stateAs of this month, any paycheck cut in Washington is subject to the new long-term care tax, unless the paycheck goes to someone who has obtained an exemption from state government. The law that is now making Washington gasoline so expensive was created in 2021; the payroll tax goes back even farther, to 2019. The Democratic majority delayed the tax collection until 2022, which kept the whole thing under the public’s radar. But as word got out about the tax and the many flaws in the so-called “WA Cares” program it support (like how people who choose to retire out of state would give up access to the long-term benefits they’d paid for), people wanted an opportunity to exempt themselves. That opportunity came late in 2021, for a limited time, but exemptions weren’t granted unless you could show you had purchased separate long-term care coverage. The resulting controversy led Democratic legislators to delay the collection of the tax until this month and add four very narrow exemptions that are ongoing but still exclude most Washington workers. That was last year. I had hoped the majority would make further adjustments during our 2023 regular session, but nothing happened – and with the tax now coming out of the paychecks of those who could not or have not obtained an exemption, I am hearing from people again, wondering what’s going on and what can be done about it. They don’t like giving up an average of $24 in pay each month indefinitely for a benefit that might pay for only a few months in an assisted-living facility. An answer came from some of my Senate Republican colleagues this week. Knowing that our colleagues in the Democratic majority won’t repeal WA Cares, they’re proposing that Washington workers again be given the choice to opt out, this time with no time limit and no strings attached (meaning no need to show proof of purchasing a separate policy). You can see the latest draft of the proposal here and read the thinking behind it here. *** Please remember I am here to serve you. Although we may not always be able to meet face to face, I encourage you to reach out to my office and to share your thoughts, ideas and concerns on matters of importance to you. Please, if you don’t already, follow me on Facebook. I look forward to hearing from you. Perry Dozier
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Author Archives: ericcampbell
Dear Neighbor,
Greetings from…here in the 16th District! This year’s regular legislative session wrapped up on schedule this past Sunday, but unfortunately, I have to emphasize the word “regular.” There’s a chance we may be called back to the Capitol for an overtime session, to deal with a situation that was completely avoidable.
I’ll explain below and also touch on some of the other results from our 105-day session, but first, let me invite you to the town hall meetings we are holding in person next week. Both begin at 5:30 p.m., and I figure they’ll last an hour or so – or as long as people still have questions!
16th District Town Halls
Tuesday, May 2 – Walla Walla
Walla Walla Community College – Performing Arts Center
Wednesday, May 3 – West Richland
Libby Middle School, 3259 Belmont Blvd.
Even though the turnout was great for our “virtual” town hall on March 28, there is nothing like being able to visit face-to-face.
In fact, the ability to work with one another in person was one of the best takeaways from the 2023 legislative session. The COVID restrictions that had kept the public out of the Capitol – the “people’s house” – during the 2021 and 2022 sessions were gone. It was great to see and hear people testify in our committees on legislation (although the remote option was still available).
Also, sorting through policy issues with other legislators is much easier when you can simply step off to the side of the Senate chamber or out into the hallway and talk. It sure beats having to schedule a virtual meeting.
Lawmakers pass new budgets in closing days
Votes by the Senate on Saturday afternoon completed the Legislature’s work on the capital and transportation budgets for 2023-25. On Sunday afternoon it was the new operating budget’s turn.
Earlier in the session I had put in funding requests for 16th District needs, and many of those were met in the compromise budgets that were negotiated by the Senate and House these past few weeks, prior to the weekend votes.
Capital budget: The final version of Senate Bill 5200 includes $42.2 million worth of investments for the 16th District. A lot of projects to repair or remodel public buildings are on the list – this is the construction budget, after all. The appropriations also include money to expand the Three Rivers Behavioral Health Center; funding related to the Walla Walla Water 2050 water management plan; and support for community assets like parks and playgrounds, and greenhouse improvements at the WSU ag research station in Prosser. The Benton County seat will even get a new city entrance sign thanks to this budget. The capital budget was passed unanimously in the House and Senate.
Transportation budget: The “Connecting Washington” transportation package passed in 2015, back when I was a county commissioner, included money to complete the widening of U.S. Highway 12 between Wallula and Walla Walla. That money got diverted. I made a case to the Senate transportation leaders (the Democratic chair and his Republican counterpart) about the need to get those dollars back ($21 million), so we could leverage them to get around $200 million in federal dollars.
I’m proud to say the $21 million is in the final transportation budget approved by the Senate and House, as is an additional $13.4 million for improvements for the State Route 224 (Red Mountain, near West Richland) corridor project. I was a “yes” on the budget (House Bill 1125) because of these local investments.
I wish the same transportation budget did not include money for a study related to the effort to breach the four federal Snake River dams – but then again, I like to think such an analysis will end up demonstrating how very important the dams are to the movement of freight and goods. That’s among the many reasons to not breach them.
Operating budget: I did not support this biggest of the three budgets when it came through the Senate in March. It wasn’t an easy call, because that version of Senate Bill 5187 plan reflected a lot of Republican input. In the end, though, I couldn’t get past things like another appropriation related to the effort to breach the Snake River dams.
The final version of the operating budget that came before us Sunday, after it was passed by majority Democrats in the House, still checked boxes that are important to fiscal conservatives like me. Also, the threat of property-tax or real-estate excise tax increases did not materialize, which was positive. However, this compromise budget retains the Snake River dam appropriation, and went in the wrong direction on K-12, by failing to go far enough to help students recover from the “learning loss” they suffered because of pandemic classroom closures.
Also, it retains a long-overdue boost in funding for special-education services but dropped the money for dedicated special-education advocates that was in the Senate version. That was the last straw for me, as a member of the Senate education committee, and made my “no” vote an easier decision.
Republicans put priority on public safety; majority Democrats falter, especially on drug-possession issue
I hoped this session would undo the mistakes made in 2021 that essentially decriminalized hard drugs and weakened the ability of law enforcement to pursue suspected criminals.
In March, seeing how our state’s current misdemeanor drug-possession law has been a disaster, I supported legislation to make possession of fentanyl and similar drugs a gross misdemeanor. This would give more leverage when trying to get people with substance-use issues into and through treatment programs.
The majority Democrats in the House said no, they wanted to stay with a misdemeanor. Negotiations between the House and Senate produced a new proposal that tried to bridge the different positions held by the two chambers, but at 9 p.m. on Sunday – the final day of the regular session – that proposal failed to win enough House votes.
Here’s what this means: The current drug-possession law expires July 1, so if the Legislature does not replace it before then, it basically falls to local governments (counties and cities) to put their own drug-possession statutes in place. That means West Richland might have a different law than Walla Walla, but that’s the situation the Democratic majority in the Legislature has caused.
It is incredibly frustrating that the Senate Democrats and Republicans worked together across party lines to put a good solution on the table (SB 5536, which I supported) yet the House Democrats would not.
A change to the criminal-friendly pursuit restrictions was adopted but is really no more than a half-step forward. I had opposed Senate Bill 5232 the first go-round and because the House did not make it appreciably better, I was a “no” the second time as well. Officers still are prohibited from pursuing car thieves, for instance, unless they literally witness the theft of the vehicle – and we know how unlikely that is to happen.
There is one bright spot on the public-safety front: While my bill to replace the state’s Offender Management Network Information (OMNI) system stalled in the House budget committee, the policy from Senate Bill 5025 is supported in the new state operating budget. This includes a project to digitize the health records of state-prison inmates – formally creating what’s being called an EHR (Electronic Health Records) system at the Department of Corrections.
I’m not counting the three anti-firearm bills passed this year (and signed by the governor yesterday) in the public-safety category, in part because I expect legal challenges may invalidate each. However, I view the dismissal of sensible bills like SB 5049 and SB 5745 as adding to our state’s public-safety concerns friendly to criminals. These measures would have increased the penalty for firearm theft and committing a crime with a stolen firearm, and I co-sponsored both. While the governor’s own Office of Firearm Safety acknowledges many of the guns tied to “gun violence” aren’t obtained legally, the majority did not give either of the bills serious consideration.
I’ll look next time at what the 2023 session meant for making life in Washington more affordable, and for K-12 education. Those, along with public safety, are the priorities Republicans brought to Olympia this year.
Participating in
YOUR state government
Now that legislators are back to meeting in person, there are many events, hearings and activities happening on the Capitol Campus. Additionally, we will continue to offer virtual options which may be more convenient. To help you navigate the legislative website and external resources, I have provided the following frequently used links to make your participation in the legislative process a little easier:
Watch legislative hearings, floor sessions and press conferences – https://www.tvw.org/
Testify in a committee – https://leg.wa.gov/legislature/Pages/Testify.aspx
Provide remote testimony – https://leg.wa.gov/House/Committees/Pages/RemoteTestimony-RegisterToTestify.aspx
Comment on a bill – https://app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/
Visit my website – https://perrydozier.src.wastateleg.org/
Senate Page Program. If you know a teen (between the ages of 14-16) interested in spending a week in Olympia learning about our state government, have them apply here – https://leg.wa.gov/Senate/Administration/PageProgram/Pages/default.aspx
Please remember I am here to serve you. Although we may not always be able to meet face to face, I encourage you to reach out to my office and to share your thoughts, ideas and concerns on matters of importance to you. Please, if you don’t already, follow me on Facebook. I look forward to hearing from you.
Also, I hope you’ll be able to join us next week at a town hall meeting!
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OLYMPIA… The three lawmakers serving Washington’s 16th Legislative District have scheduled town hall meetings May 2 and 3 to discuss the outcome of the Legislature’s just-concluded annual session.
Both of the meetings hosted by Sen. Perry Dozier, R-Waitsburg, and Reps. Skyler Rude and Mark Klicker, both R-Walla Walla, will begin at 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday’s town hall will be in the performing arts center at Walla Walla Community College’s campus in Walla Walla, at 500 Tausick Way. The Wednesday town hall is at Libby Middle School, 3259 Belmont Blvd. in West Richland.
The 2023 legislative session ended April 23, as scheduled. In addition to reviewing some of the bills that have passed in the Senate and House of Representatives, and providing an update on their own legislation, the three lawmakers also plan to answer attendees’ questions and address their concerns.
Dear Neighbor,
Greetings from Olympia! As if there weren’t enough important decisions left for legislators to make, with just eight days remaining in our time at the Capitol, there is talk of raising your property taxes!
This totally unnecessary and unwelcome proposal came in two days ago, as the Senate and House of Representatives each reached the next-to-last deadline of the session – the “cutoff” for the Senate to act on bills passed by the House, and vice versa.
The session’s final phase started Thursday and will run through Sunday after next, when we’re scheduled to adjourn. This is when the two chambers settle (or attempt to settle) disputes between the versions of bills each has passed. I’ll explain in a moment.
Voter-endorsed cap on property-tax growth needs to stay
In 2001 the voters of Washington put a 1% limit on the annual growth of property taxes. Six years later, after the state Supreme Court ruled that the law created by Initiative 747 was unconstitutional, legislators met in a special session to pass a measure that reinstated the 1% cap.
Early in this session a group of Democratic senators proposed lifting the limit to 3%, but did not move that bill ahead. Then on Wednesday, which in practical terms was the final day to introduce new bills, the effort to lift the cap was revived when a larger group filed Senate Bill 5770.
The timing of this makes no sense, because the Senate and House have already approved their own versions of new operating budgets. They are balanced without new taxes, so the budget compromise now being negotiated between the two chambers should also balance without new taxes
Even so, we have to view this bill as a serious threat. In 2019 a big new tax was put on financial institutions through a proposal that was not made public until there were only 48 hours left in the session!
It’s puzzling how some senators talk about wanting “affordable homes for every Washingtonian” then push a plan that would increase housing costs. Government doesn’t need more money — it has plenty to continue existing services and programs.
Fate of public-safety bills less clear due to House changes
My March 31 report questioned whether and how the House would handle the two most visible public-safety bills of the session: Senate Bill 5536, which would be a new response to the Blake court decision on drug possession, and replace the disastrously weak state law created in 2021; and SB 5352, which would reform the criminal-friendly restrictions on police pursuits, also adopted two sessions ago.
This week the House Democrats did the same thing they had done in 2021, by taking the Senate’s bill to make possession of hard drugs a gross misdemeanor and downgrading it to a misdemeanor. That’s the same as the failed law in place now.
When the House makes changes to a bill passed by the Senate and sends it back, the Senate has to decide whether to “concur” (agree) with the changes, or not. If the choice is “do not concur,” then the House has to make a decision. It can “insist” on its position and ask the Senate to “recede.”
The Senate should not go along with the House this time, as it did in 2021. We should insist on our version of the bill, with the stronger leverage it offers to get people into and through treatment. Of all the disputes that need to be settled between the Senate and House before we adjourn on April 23, this is the most important for our state.
The House did end up voting to pass the police-pursuit bill, after making very minor changes at the committee level. I had voted against SB 5352 because it did represent progress but still didn’t go far enough, in my view. The version that came out of the Senate would still allow someone to steal a car without fear of being pursued, unless the theft was literally witnessed by an officer. That would do nothing about the auto-theft epidemic in our state.
I can’t say yet what will happen, or how I will vote, when the Senate is asked whether to agree or not with the slight changes made to SB 5352. I’ll take a slightly better policy over the law we’ve had since 2021, but clearly, this issue is going to be back before the Legislature in 2024.
Firearm bills moving forward, but will they make us safer?
The Senate was in session from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the day before Easter Sunday, and one of the results was the partisan passage of a ban on the style of semi-automatic firearms that some label “assault weapons.”
House Bill 1240 would impose a ban on the manufacture, importation, distribution, sale, or offer for sale of more than 50 specific firearms, plus other firearms that have certain features (like a noise suppressor, even though those help keep a target range quieter and protect a shooter’s hearing).
The theme of the arguments I and other Republicans made during the lengthy debate on HB 1240 was that banning a certain category of firearm will not make our state measurably safer. We should instead address root causes of violence in general, such as the behavioral-health concerns.
If protecting schools is the concern, Democrats should join Republicans in supporting measures to “harden” our schools. To me that would do much more to discourage people who are intent on committing evil and looking for “soft” targets.
HB 1240 has not yet gone to the governor, pending a disagreement between the House and Senate about amendments made by the Senate. Meanwhile, two other firearm bills are both on their way to the governor:
- HB 1143, which was passed by the Senate a week ago, would add to the requirements for purchasing a firearm, between the background check and a 10-day waiting period and mandatory firearm-safety training. Yesterday the House agreed with the changes to HB 1143 made by the Senate, which finishes the work on the bill.
- SB 5078 would authorize “investigation and enforcement” of firearm-industry members by the state attorney general and stands to impact the more than 3,000 federally licensed firearm dealers in Washington, plus others in the industry. It was passed by the House on Monday and the Senate concurred yesterday with the House changes.
I expect all three of these measures could end up being challenged in court, as conflicting with the U.S. Constitution (and perhaps our Washington constitution, which is even clearer about firearm rights).
Participating in
YOUR state government
Now that legislators are back to meeting in person, there are many events, hearings and activities happening on the Capitol Campus. Additionally, we will continue to offer virtual options which may be more convenient. To help you navigate the legislative website and external resources, I have provided the following frequently used links to make your participation in the legislative process a little easier:
Watch legislative hearings, floor sessions and press conferences – https://www.tvw.org/
Testify in a committee – https://leg.wa.gov/legislature/Pages/Testify.aspx
Provide remote testimony – https://leg.wa.gov/House/Committees/Pages/RemoteTestimony-RegisterToTestify.aspx
Comment on a bill – https://app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/
Visit my website – https://perrydozier.src.wastateleg.org/
Senate Page Program. If you know a teen (between the ages of 14-16) interested in spending a week in Olympia learning about our state government, have them apply here – https://leg.wa.gov/Senate/Administration/PageProgram/Pages/default.aspx
Please remember I am here to serve you. Although we may not always be able to meet face to face, I encourage you to reach out to my office and to share your thoughts, ideas and concerns on matters of importance to you. Please, if you don’t already, follow me on Facebook. I look forward to hearing from you.
Perry Dozier
State Senator
16th Legislative District
April 2, 2023
Dear Neighbor,
Greetings from Olympia! Since my previous report the Senate has voted on two budgets, and another important deadline has come and gone. Also, we’re now just three weeks away from the scheduled end of the session. That means the biggest decisions are just around the corner, and most all of them fall into the public-safety category one way or another.
In the meantime, the state Supreme Court weighed in on what Republicans have viewed as the new state income tax. It’s hard to figure out how the justices came up their ruling – keep reading for that.
One ‘yes,’ one ‘no’ on Senate budgets
Let’s take the budgets first. The capital budget is mostly about construction – building, fixing and remodeling things – and other physical assets, like parks, land for recreation and wildlife habitat, and facilities for community activities. It is rarely controversial and often is passed unanimously.
I don’t know exactly how the Democrats go about providing input for that budget, but in the Senate Republican caucus we offer a list of requests based on discussions with constituents, and our capital-budget team fits in as many requests as it can.
I voted yes for the Senate’s version of the capital budget for 2023-25 (SB 5200), which contains nearly $10 million for projects throughout our legislative district. The biggest single item for our area is a major investment in behavioral health capacity, but there also would be support for library improvements, fish-passage projects, parks, recreational facilities, local schools and much more.
From a statewide perspective, the Senate capital budget would invest more than $500 million toward affordable housing, via the state’ Housing Trust Fund. That’s a far better approach to dealing with Washington’s shortage of housing (for prospective buyers, renters and people who are without homes) than the $4 billion housing referendum the governor has been pitching.
I haven’t looked in detail at what the House capital budget would offer locally, but over the next few weeks the negotiations between the two chambers will produce a final package for us to consider again.
The Senate operating budget is a different story. I like the fact that the majority Democrats were very inclusive of Republican ideas this time around, and as a result, the budget reflects our strong emphasis on restoring public safety, dealing with the affordability crisis and supporting some specific needs in K-12. As a member of the education committee, I am particularly glad to see a significant investment toward addressing K-12 learning loss ($70 million) and the extraordinary level of additional support it offers to special-education students and their families ($800 million!).
I also appreciate that the spending increase in the Senate budget is kept to 8% — which is still a lot, but far less than the average growth in spending over the past few cycles. Also, it balances without new taxes, and leaves a solid amount in reserve. Republicans deserve much of the credit for that restraint, which is tremendously important considering the uncertain times ahead for our state economy.
In the end, however, I had to withhold my support for this budget, even though it passed with a strong bipartisan vote. The $500,000 in the Senate budget for yet another state study involving the four lower Snake River dams was the main deal-breaker. To quote my southeast Washington neighbor, 9th District Sen. Mark Schoesler, the Snake River dams in Washington have to be the “most studied dams in America.” Because they are federal dams, however, the state has no control over their future. I see no point in sinking taxpayer dollars into having the Department of Ecology look at how to support irrigation in our region should the dams be removed – because they should not be removed.
On top of that, there’s nothing in the budget to address the issue I and other Republican senators tried to get at with Senate Bill 5728. The state (Ecology, again) has failed to implement an exemption that would protect farmers, trucking companies, and barge operators from the higher costs connected to the majority Democrats’ so-called “Climate Commitment Act.”
As with the capital budget, the Senate and House will negotiate a final version of the 2023-25 operating budget for each legislator to consider. And within the next week we should see proposed transportation budgets from the two chambers.
Major public-safety decisions still at hand
I’m very concerned that majority Democrats in the House are trying to derail the effort to strengthen Washington’s drug-possession law after two years of a disastrous social experiment.
Early this month I was among the majority in the Senate to support Senate Bill 5536, which would make possession and use of hard drugs a gross misdemeanor. In 2021, Democrats responded to the state Supreme Court’s Blake decision by knocking possession of fentanyl, meth, heroin and other controlled substances down to only a misdemeanor (from a felony) and only then on the third offense!
That lax approach is why so many people across Washington are dying from overdoses, and our homelessless situation is among the worst in the country. There’s no real leverage to compel people to seek and complete substance-use treatment.
This past week brought the deadline for policy committees in both chambers to complete their work. Before voting to move SB 5536 forward, the House Community Safety, Justice, and Reentry Committee changed the bill to preserve much of what is in the failed current law – like a misdemeanor charge, and no mandatory penalty for failing to get treatment. That’s a huge disappointment.
Here’s the catch, with the end of the session coming soon. The weaker law passed in 2021 expires in July, and without a new law to replace it, the possession of hard drugs will automatically become legal in our state. Our families and communities cannot afford to have the Democrats fail them again.
The effort to reform Washington’s police-pursuit law, which was also seriously weakened by majority Democrats in 2021, is faring somewhat better. SB 5352 moved forward from the House Community Safety, Justice, and Reentry Committee this past week, with minor changes. Although I didn’t support SB 5352 in the Senate, as it would not get at the auto-theft epidemic in our state, it’s still somewhat harder on criminals than the current law. I would consider voting yes if the bill comes back to the Senate.
The question is whether the bill will reach the floor of the House for a vote – because if not, there’s no chance of another vote in the Senate. This falls on the speaker of the House, because she already blocked a vote on a bipartisan pursuit-reform bill from House members. We’ll know the answer by April 12 when the deadline for the House to vote on Senate bills (and vice versa) arrives.
Amazingly, Supreme Court overturns 2022 ruling,
upholds new ‘excise’ tax on capital-gains income
On March 24 our state’s highest court weighed in on whether the capital-gains tax passed by the majority Democrats in 2021 is constitutional. I never saw the tax as being legal, and a superior-court judge had tossed it out a year ago. But our Democratic attorney general disagreed and appealed the decision.
Arguments in the case were made here in Olympia in late January. By a 7-2 vote, a majority of the justices bought the argument that the capital-gains tax is not an income tax but an excise tax. Washington is now alone in taking that position, as the rest of the world views the income from capital gains as taxable income.
The silver lining here is that the court did not hand the majority Democrats the prize that was admittedly behind their adoption of the tax two years ago: a ruling that would declare income is property, which would open the door to a full-blown income tax in our state. But watch out: the tax now is 7% on the portion of capital-gains income over $250,000, and doesn’t apply to assets like real estate. No one should expect it to stay like that, as Democrats can begin changing the rules to make more people pay the tax. We also should look for another attempt to get the income-tax question before this particular court.
Participating in YOUR state government
Now that legislators are back to meeting in person, there are many events, hearings and activities happening on the Capitol Campus. Additionally, we will continue to offer virtual options which may be more convenient. To help you navigate the legislative website and external resources, I have provided the following frequently used links to make your participation in the legislative process a little easier:
Watch legislative hearings, floor sessions and press conferences – https://www.tvw.org/
Testify in a committee – https://leg.wa.gov/legislature/Pages/Testify.aspx
Provide remote testimony – https://leg.wa.gov/House/Committees/Pages/RemoteTestimony-RegisterToTestify.aspx
Comment on a bill – https://app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/
Visit my website – https://perrydozier.src.wastateleg.org/
Senate Page Program. If you know a teen (between the ages of 14-16) interested in spending a week in Olympia learning about our state government, have them apply here – https://leg.wa.gov/Senate/Administration/PageProgram/Pages/default.aspx
***
Please remember I am here to serve you. Although we may not always be able to meet face to face, I encourage you to reach out to my office and to share your thoughts, ideas and concerns on matters of importance to you. Please, if you don’t already, follow me on Facebook. I look forward to hearing from you.
Perry Dozier
State Senator
16th Legislative District
OLYMPIA… Sen. Perry Dozier, R-Waitsburg, and Reps. Skyler Rude and Mark Klicker, both R-Walla Walla, will hold a “virtual” town hall meeting from 7 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 28.
The three lawmakers serve Washington’s 16th Legislative District, which comprises Walla Walla County and adjacent parts of Benton and Franklin counties. Tuesday’s meeting, held using the Zoom platform, will give constituents an opportunity to learn more about the 2023 legislative session.
In addition to reviewing some of the bills that have passed in the Senate and House of Representatives, and providing an update on their own legislation, the three lawmakers also plan to answer attendees’ questions and address their concerns.
Those who wish to participate in the meeting need to register for the event online at https://leg-wa-gov.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0G1NLa0NSimL7oQQhF_9cw.
The 2023 legislative session is scheduled to end April 23.
As lead Republican co-sponsor of a Senate bill about enhancing Washington’s tourism marketing efforts, and a member of the state Tourism Marketing Authority, it was my pleasure to meet with tourism leaders from throughout our state who visited the Capitol this week. We’ll know later this month if Senate Bill 5465 is wrapped into the Senate’s budget package. The House has passed what began as an identical bill (HB 1258), but I’m hearing it was changed and now would be less beneficial than the Senate proposal.
March 17, 2023
Dear Neighbor,
Greetings from Olympia! After pausing for a week-plus while we voted in the Senate chamber on which bills to send to the House of Representatives, the various Senate committees are hard at work again, looking at bills sent over to us by the House. The committees in the House are doing the same with the legislation we sent over.
More than 1,600 pieces of legislation were filed this session. Hundreds of them were culled during the initial round of committee work, which lasted nearly seven weeks. While that still left 600+ bills still in play, many more of those will fall by the wayside over the 17 days left for this current round of committee work. That’s how the process is supposed to work, and as a conservative who prefers smaller government, I’m OK with it.
Also, we’re close to seeing new budget proposals. State government runs on a two-year budget cycle, and in odd-numbered years the Legislature needs to adopt new budgets to pay for day-to-day government operations, capital investments, and transportation. I’ve already submitted requests for funding on behalf of the 16th District that fall into each category.
Next week I expect the budget leaders in the Senate and House will put proposals for 2023-25 on the table for the budget committees to refine. Sometime in April both chambers will push their own plans forward, then there’s more negotiating, and before the session ends April 23, compromises must be reached on each budget.
Here’s a sampling of legislation I’m following as we near the 2/3rds mark of the session.
Bills targeting firearms don’t get at real public-safety issue
Now that bills have come over from the House, my office received more e-mails this week about House Bill 1240 and HB 1143 than any other legislation. Here’s an example I received from Steven in Kennewick:
As HB 1240, the “assault weapons” ban, makes its way through the Senate, I am asking you NOT to support this legislation that violates our state and federal constitutions.
Data shows us that violent criminals are unchanged by gun control legislation. It’s time to pass laws that will hold criminals accountable, not punish law abiding citizens with unconstitutional laws like HB 1240. This is a bill to make people feel good – to make people feel like you’re solving the gun violence problem when all this bill does is infringe upon the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. It’s time for Washington legislators to pass common sense legislation. This is not it. The passage of this bill would cost taxpayers enormously when it is challenged in the courts due to its unconstitutionality. I respectfully ask you to vote NO on HB 1240. Thank you.
Like many natives of Walla Walla County, I grew up around guns. I’ve never been what you would call an avid hunter, but managed to bag a few pheasants in my younger days. As a legislator, I’m amazed that the majority Democrats seem so focused on the firearm and not the person wielding the firearm.
Here’s how I responded:
Over the past few sessions, we have seen various gun control laws introduced. I share the frustration and oppose efforts to further restrict our constitutional rights.
Democratic lawmakers, Governor Inslee and Attorney General Ferguson have consistently pushed legislation to restrict access to firearms by law-abiding citizens while simultaneously supporting policies that disempower law enforcement.
Problems with gun violence around our state are not due to law abiding citizens, they are caused by criminals with guns, many of whom obtained them illegally. Imposing that kind of liability will do nothing but further infringe on the rights of citizens.
I will stand up for our Second Amendment rights and do all that I can to slow the progress of these bad pieces of legislation. Given the makeup of the Legislature, stopping it altogether may not be possible, but I will voice your concerns and the concerns of many who have contacted me and my colleagues in opposition.
Both HB 1240 and HB 1143 are scheduled for public hearings before the Senate Law and Justice Committee next Thursday morning. To share an opinion about either (or both), you may choose between testifying — either in person or remotely — or simply stating whether you are for or against a bill, without testifying. Submitting written testimony is also an option. All the information you’ll need is available through this link.
Bipartisan progress toward serving students with special-education needs
According to the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, approximately 143,000 students in our state receive special-ed and related services. On average, that works out to about 14% of the students in any given school district – and the state sends nearly that much in extra funding to districts, specifically to support special-education services.
As a member of the Senate education committee, I know many of Washington’s 295 school districts have a higher percentage of students who require individual education plans (IEPs). They’re faced with using local dollars to fill the gap between the extra the state provides and the true cost of delivering those special services. That’s why I am glad to report that one of the Senate bills we sent across to the House earlier this month is SB 5311.
Besides raising the district-level cap on state funding for special ed, this bill also would provide parents of special-ed students with something they have wanted for a long time: dedicated advocates to help them work with their local districts on the creation of the individual education plans (IEPs) that guide the delivery of special-education services. At least one of these advocates would be delegated to each of Washington’s nine educational service districts, but they would work out of the state education ombuds office, which has a larger role already in helping parents navigate our state’s K-12 system.
A similar special-ed advocate bill came out of the Senate unanimously a few years ago with but was inexplicably blocked by Democrats in the House. We need to do better this year, because Washington’s constitution is clear about the duty to provide for the education of all children in our state.
Ag-overtime reform stalls in both chambers
One of the major disappointments of this session has to be the majority Democrats’ shabby treatment of bipartisan legislation that would offer our ag industry a measure of flexibility regarding overtime pay for farm workers.
SB 5476 received nothing beyond a public hearing from the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee, a month into this session – but that’s still more than HB 1523.
This all stems from the controversial ag-overtime bill approved in 2021 (a classic case of a good bill being hijacked and turned in the wrong direction), which in turn had to do with a state Supreme Court ruling in 2020, involving dairy workers.
I’ve received many questions from members in our ag community about the status of this legislation. I’m also aware of the concern about how to classify the year-round workers on farms who are often paid salaries instead of at an hourly rate – something else that deserves legislative attention.
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Please remember I am here to serve you. Although we may not always be able to meet face to face, I encourage you to reach out to my office and to share your thoughts, ideas and concerns on matters of importance to you. Please, if you don’t already, follow me on Facebook. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Perry Dozier
March 4, 2023
This is what a “meeting” often looks like when we’re working full-time on the floor of the Senate chamber, as has been the case all this week. Between debates and votes on bills you try to grab a moment to talk, as I was doing here with Sen. Mark Schoesler of Ritzville, left, and Sen. Curtis King of Yakima.
Dear Neighbor,
Greetings from Olympia! Thursday was day 53 of a session scheduled for 105 days, meaning legislators are just past the midway point.
The state Senate is several days into what is probably best described as the third stage of our work.
My previous report explained how policy and budget committees winnow the number of bills in play. This new stage goes through Wednesday and has the full 49-member Senate considering bills that received the necessary committee endorsements and were placed on our voting calendar by another committee, called Rules.
Members of the Rules Committee are not obliged to put every available bill on the voting calendar, nor is the Senate obliged to bring every bill on the calendar to a vote. That means the bills we do vote on have cleared either three or four hurdles already.
Once a bill is passed by the Senate, it begins the process all over again in the House of Representatives. As I’ve mentioned before, it can be difficult to make laws – and more often than not that is a good thing.
I’m happy to report one of my prime-sponsored bills won unanimous approval yesterday afternoon: Senate Bill 5025, which would require the digitization of all records of those serving sentences in our state correctional institutions.
You can imagine how much time and trouble it would save to have all those paper-based medical records converted to electronic form, for easier management. Before the vote I related to my fellow senators a story about how having medical records in paper form once complicated an emergency medical situation involving a Washington State Penitentiary inmate — all the paper weighed so much that it became impossible to take the full record on a medical helicopter flight! That bill now moves to the House of Representatives, and the process outlined above.
Here are a few examples of other bills that moved through the Senate just this week. They help illustrate the importance and range of the decisions being made.
 Fixing the state’s
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 Democratic majority is off-target
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 New attack on parental rights moves forwardBack on Feb. 1, when my Parents’ Bill of Rights bill (SB 5024) came up for a public hearing in our Senate K-12 committee, more than 70% of the people who signed in to offer their opinion agreed with the point of my legislation: School districts can and should do more to involve parents. I thought that was a pretty one-sided response. But it didn’t hold a candle to Senate Bill 5599, which would go in the opposite direction by eliminating an important parental right. When it received a hearing before the Senate Human Services Committee on Feb. 6, more than 4,700 people registered their opinion on the bill – and 98% were opposed. If a teen runs away from home and ends up at a licensed youth shelter, the parents are supposed to get a notification call within 72 hours, preferably sooner. At least then the parents know their child is alive as opposed to being in a hospital or morgue or just plain missing. Since 2010 there has been one exception to the parental-notification rule, and it’s reasonable: if a child shows signs of parental abuse or harm, the parents don’t get notified, but the state Department of Children, Youth and Families does. SB 5599 would create a new exception to the parental-notification requirement, and it’s got a definite slant: All children would have to do is show up at a shelter, claim they are seeking what the bill calls “protected health services,” and just like that – the “cone of silence” comes down around the child. No call to the parents is required. Before the vote on this bill, which happened Wednesday night (which meant it couldn’t make the evening news) Senate Republican Leader John Braun did a great job of explaining why this bill is not only anti-parent but also not pro-child. Click here to view his remarks and here for a statement he issued afterward. Either will give you a fuller sense of the problems with this proposal, and why it needs to be sidelined rather than become law. |
The state Senate has been approving a wide range of bills all week – and while some are supported only by majority Democrats, most have received bipartisan votes. An example of a bill that brought Republicans and Democrats together is SB 5569, which I am co-sponsoring. It would help kidney disease centers to offer more dialysis stations, and before it received a unanimous vote I explained to my fellow senators how access to dialysis several years ago is why my 86-year-old mother is still able to go out and work in her garden!
Co-sponsored bills still in play
No legislator has a corner on good ideas, so I am happy to look at legislation proposed by other senators and decide whether to co-sponsor or “sign on” to it.
Here are just a few of the bills I am co-sponsoring that have either been passed by the Senate or are still in a position to move forward by March 8.
Land stewardship – SB 5353 would give the rest of Washington’s 39 counties an opportunity to participate in the state’s Voluntary Stewardship Program – an alternative approach for protecting critical areas on lands where agricultural uses exist. I know about the stewardship program firsthand, as Walla Walla County was one of the 27 counties that signed up when the first opportunity was presented in 2012. It has produced great results in our area.
Besides opening up the program to the 12 counties that didn’t sign up the first time around, SB 5353 would also allow any counties joining the program to access funding for riparian projects. The unanimous vote from the Senate for this bill Thursday is great news to agriculture groups and tribes, after a bipartisan riparian-buffer bill many had supported failed to make it past the committee stage in the House.
Irrigation-district elections – Washington has many special-purpose taxing districts nowadays, but it all started with irrigation districts. Our state has around 100 irrigation districts that construct, operate, and maintain the infrastructure that supplies water for Washington agriculture. A fraud case involving an irrigation district in King County exposed how the election procedures for irrigation districts are out of date.
SB 5709 was approved unanimously this past Tuesday; it would allow for mail-in ballots to modernize ballot security and make some important changes to how one becomes a candidate to the board of directors.
School-maintenance money – For the third straight year, I’m sponsoring legislation that would help school districts in Washington address their building-maintenance needs.
Senate Bill 5403 was approved by the Senate yesterday. It would allow school districts to voluntarily create a “depreciation subfund” that can receive a transfer of up to 2 percent of a school district’s general fund each fiscal year.
Sometimes it can be better for a school district to pay cash for a building repair or to set aside money for emergencies when they arise. This bipartisan bill would provide such a path for school districts to handle building- or facility-maintenance needs.
Participating in YOUR state government
Now that we are back in person, there are many events, hearings and activities happening on the Capitol Campus. Additionally, we will continue to offer virtual options which may be more convenient. To help you navigate the legislative website and external resources, I have provided the following frequently used links to make your participation in the legislative process a little easier:
Watch legislative hearings, floor sessions and press conferences – https://www.tvw.org/
Testify in a committee – https://leg.wa.gov/legislature/Pages/Testify.aspx
Provide remote testimony – https://leg.wa.gov/House/Committees/Pages/RemoteTestimony-RegisterToTestify.aspx
Comment on a bill – https://app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/
Visit my website – https://perrydozier.src.wastateleg.org/
Senate Page Program. If you know a teen (between the ages of 14-16) interested in spending a week in Olympia learning about our state government, have them apply here – https://leg.wa.gov/Senate/Administration/PageProgram/Pages/default.aspx
Please remember I am here to serve you. Although we may not always be able to meet face to face, I encourage you to reach out to my office and to share your thoughts, ideas and concerns on matters of importance to you. Please, if you don’t already, follow me on Facebook. I look forward to hearing from you.
Perry Dozier
State Senator
16th Legislative District
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